Claire's Squirrel Party

Claire had her birthday October 4, she turned 4 years old! Another golden birthday. She was very firm on her desire to have a Squirrel Party this year. I tried suggesting Dora, Backyardigans, Wonder Pets, but no, she wanted a squirrel party! :D Where she came up with this idea, I have no idea! I think it may have been because she went to Saffi's party which was a bear theme. At any rate, I used all of my creative juices and think the party turned out really well. It was surprisingly fun. Here's what we did:

We put on squirrel headbands and painted little whiskers on their faces. We played outside while waiting for everyone to come. And of course, while outside I simply had to lift them up and let them sit in our tree like little squirrels. :) I couldn't resist.


We then decorated little squirrel pictures and put them on paper bags. I told them fun facts about squirrels (did you know that they find the acorns they bury by their sense of smell? They don't remember where they put them).



When they were finished, I told them about my poor little friend Sammy the squirrel who had a cold and couldn't find his acorns because his nose was stuffy. The kids then went downstairs to hunt for acorns. I had hidden about 500 real acorns (thanks to Elizabeth who had gathered them off the ground from a kindly neighbor's yard). Having so many acorns was awesome, it was like a never ending Easter egg hunt.


After they finished finding all of the acorns, I pulled out a poster that I had made of my friend Sammy and they then took turns tossing the acorns into the holes I had cut in it. I was rather proud of how that poster turned out. And here I've gone all of these years thinking I have no artistic talent...



We then went outside and played puffy bunny, pretending that we were ground squirrels stuffing our cheeks with nuts. Yes, I was very careful with this game and closely monitored how many marshmallows were in their mouths.



We then went inside and ate some chocolate cake I had tried to make look like acorns. Claire then opened presents, and when we were done I discovered, to my chagrin, that we still had an hour left until the parents were due to pick our guests up. Take it from me, 3 hour birthday parties are still a bit too long at this age. :D Well, we survived and the kids all had a blast. It was a surprisingly successful squirrel party. I think I will keep this party theme on the list for potential parties with my future children.